When the Stags and Friars faceoff, it has the potential to be a fight to the finish. In this case, it was a fight at the finish.
Following Fairfield’s 6-5 victory, a sideline skirmish occurred between the Providence bench and Fairfield starters.
However, that may have been the easiest part of the game for Fairfield as the Stags dominated the first half, but couldn’t hold the lead and momentum through the second.
As Providence goalie Peter Littell ’07, an All-MAAC pre-season selection, headed for the sidelines following a Dan Boudreau ’08 goal at 10:38 in the second hald, the Stags seemed to be well on their way to a sure victory.
Fairfield controlled the first half, possessing the ball, out shooting the Friars 21-8, and, most importantly, leading by a commanding 5-1 margin.
The only problem was, from that point on, things only got worse.
Providence would go on to score three consecutive goals, including two in the fourth quarter, to scare the Stags and threaten their once commanding lead.
Luckily for Fairfield, the play of senior goalie Mike Kruger ’07 was a godsend, preventing the completion of a Friar comeback, as the Stags found a way to hold on to a 6-5 victory. The defense sealed the game following a late turnover by Providence middie Devin McBride ’08 on a stick check from defenseman Matt Scanlon ’07.
Kruger had 10 saves on the game, the majority of them coming in the fourth quarter. In particular, Kruger made a few spectacular saves on one-on-one situations with the Stags’ in a difficult man down situation.
Head Coach Ted Spencer was quick to point out that Kruger was a key in holding off the Providence second-half surge.
“(Kruger) played phenomenal,” said Spencer.
Kruger, who had allowed 11 goals in last season’s loss against Providence at Rhode Island, felt he needed to prove himself in this particular game.
“I did not want to lose [to Providence] again. Last year, I took it very personally. I put a lot of the blame on myself [last year],” said Kruger.
Another contributor to the victory was midfielder Boudreau. Boudreau had a three-goal effort, with one goal coming later in the game following the position change.
Spencer felt the move was needed to try to get Boudreau the ball. He was obviously correct, as the fourth-quarter goal to cap the hat trick stopped a streak of three straight Providence goals.
“From a coach’s standpoint, Dan was on today. And we really needed him on the field,” said Spencer about his decision to move Boudreau.
Boudreau and Kruger’s effort helped to end a threat, but it was still an absolute mystery as to how a team that came out so dominant struggled so much in the second half.
“They threw us off a little [with the stalling]. They possessed the ball. But I don’t think we let up at all. Defensively, we played a great game,” said Kruger.
Coach Spencer pointed to a stall tactic towards the end of the second quarter as a turning point, during which Providence held the ball and played “keep away” from the Stags.
“Personally, I feel it was a very good coaching move by them. They knew they couldn’t run with us and they started stalling,” said Spencer. “I think they wanted to keep us on defense and keep us tired and force us into penalty situations.”
Senior midfielder Greg Downing couldn’t have agreed more.
“We were really on a roll and it kind of took the wind out of our sails a little,” said Downing.
Penalties and turnovers played a key role in the Friars’ comeback, as the Stags committed 10 penalties over the course of the game. They turned the ball over 18 times, 11 of those in the second half during the Friars’ comeback attempt.
For Providence, McBride scored three times on five shots on goal and willed the Friars back into the game, lessening it to a two goal contest at 5-3.
Luckily for the Stags, McBride’s tremendous effort and a late push from Providence did not cost the team a win.
“At the end of the day, it is a W,” said Spencer.
The Stags now face a tough Dartmouth team, who lost their opener to Duke in North Carolina last week. Dartmouth, while unranked in the preseason, received six votes and is looked at one of the top teams in the nation.
Friars Go Down Swinging
The taste of the lacrosse team’s victory on Saturday started sweetly as the Stags defeated Providence 6-5, but ended on a sour note with a Friars’ late hit that led to a benches-clearing confrontation.
Pushing and shoving occurred as well as verbal abuse from both sides. Order was brought to the unruly few by the referees, coaches, security officials and players.
Two players have been suspended one game for fighting: senior Brendan Ryan of Providence who put the initial hit on the Stag defender, and sophomore Stag Matt Petre for retaliating after the hit.
“Never have I seen anything like this in my 12 years as coach,” said Head Coach Ted Spencer. “I want the fans to know that we have a zero tolerance for instances such as these.”
“We certainly were disappointed that players not involved in the play left the bench area,” said Athletic Director Gene Doris. “That was the case for both teams.
“While there is no rule in Men’s Lacrosse covering that situation, we have made it clear that in the future we expect non-involved players to remain where they are and permit the referees to adjudicate the matter.”
Tensions were high on both sidelines, even before the opening whistle sounded, as Fairfield looked to avenge last year’s 11-10 overtime loss suffered at Providence.
In last year’s game against the Friars, the Stags went down 4-0 in the first quarter but bounced back to lead 5-4 at the half. A goal by junior Travis Nelson with 7:47 sent the game to overtime tied at 10.
The Friars’ lone shot in the overtime came from McBride with 56 second left to win the game.
Andrew Chapin contributed to this report.
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